Honey from Australian bees could help health

Manuka honey often steals the spotlight when it comes to honey's healing properties. However, stingless bees also create a type of honey known as sugarbag honey. Used in Indigenous Australian medicine for thousands of years, scientists now believe it could play a role in combating antibiotic resistance in the future. These tiny bees may be no bigger than a matchhead, but they pack a powerful punch. Their sugarbag honey has been a cornerstone of First Nations bush medicine for millennia. Now, researchers suggest that even a small amount could outperform certain antibacterial and antifungal treatments. “When we talk about natural products like honey, they have a lot of different compounds in them that are all working together to do different things. So, it's much, much harder for microbes to gain resistance,” explains Dr. Kenya Fernandes of the University of Sydney. Dr. Fernandes was already familiar with the antibacterial qualities of Manuka honey and began to wonder if sugarbag honey might have similar effects. She tested honey from three types of native stingless bees against E. coli, tinea, golden staph, and a yeast called Cryptococcus neoformans. Amazingly, each honey sample displayed both antibacterial and antifungal properties, and Dr. Fernandes believes the bees themselves may be the key. “The stingless bee honey gets its effectiveness from, we think, something that the bees are adding to the honey, or the way that they're processing the nectar,” says Dr. Fernandes. Because of their tiny size, stingless bees produce just half a liter of honey annually. To support further research, a greater supply is needed. One potential way to increase production is by encouraging more people to take up stingless beekeeping as a hobby. “Anyone can own these bees. They're really low maintenance compared to honey bees,” says Ph.D. student Jasmin Li. If more people began keeping these bees, it could lead to increased honey production and open the door to future medical uses. Although this honey hasn't yet received official approval for clinical use, researchers are excited about its promising scientific potential. This article was provided by The Associated Press.